Rick Klein

The TAKE with Rick Klein Why settle for busting brackets when you can blow up norms, traditions and bedrock principles? President Donald Trump spent his weekend crossing bright lines that once separated political involvement and matters concerning the justice system. Far from avoiding criticism of Read more

The TAKE with Emily Goodin The ground shook for Republicans on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue this week with signs there may be more tremors to come. On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump fired his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. And, on Tuesday night, House Republicans appeared to take a Read more

The TAKE with Rick Klein Do Republicans believe the spin, or do they believe the math? It might be a ripple, it might be a wave, and it might be a tsunami. But what’s moving through the electoral landscape is not going to be solved by shaving off moustaches any more than it is by holding lots of Read more

Former Gov. Ed Rendell and Pennsylvania prognosticator said that Conor Lamb is the type of conservative that Democrats need. “If you want to succeed in taking back the Congress, we have to understand that there’s got to be more than just outright, 100 percent, full-fledged progressives in the Read more

Newly released agency emails show that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson 's wife, Candy, had a direct role in a controversial request to purchase a $31,000 dining set for the secretary's office — which some watchdog groups say calls into further question his family’s involvement in Read more

Republican leaders are delivering a stern warning to their incumbent lawmakers in the wake of the Pennsylvania special election – it’s time to get to work and run a real campaign. Speaker Paul Ryan , in a meeting with House Republicans Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill , reportedly warned his party Read more

The TAKE with Rick Klein More than $10 million, a visit by President Donald Trump , the mobilization of the GOP army … all to buy a tie? It’s not just any tie. Republicans fought to almost (but not quite) even in a district Trump carried by nearly 20 points in 2016, and where Democrats had stopped Read more

The TAKE with Rick Klein It will be up to a deep-red House district today to provide a blueprint – or deliver yet more Democratic blues. But before anyone heralds a herd of Conor Lambs, where else could a Democrat come close to a seat in Congress while opposing new gun laws, stating his belief that Read more

The stakes are high in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District special election as both Democrats and Republicans are closely watching the results for indications of how the 2018 midterm elections may play out and for signs of which party might control the House of Representatives after Read more

The TAKE with Rick Klein Welcome back to the political season. If it seemed like it never left us – well, that’s because it didn’t. President Donald Trump is thrusting himself back into the campaign narrative, with a 2020 slogan – “Keep America Great, exclamation point” – and with his midterm Read more